America’s next favorite Australian author! “With jaw-dropping discoveries and realistic consequences, this novel is not to be missed. Perfect for lovers of Big Little Lies.” –Library Journal, starred review Small, perfect towns often hold the deepest secrets. From the outside, Essie’s life looks idyllic: a loving husband, a beautiful house in a good neighborhood, and a nearby mother who dotes on … beautiful house in a good neighborhood, and a nearby mother who dotes on her grandchildren. But few of Essie’s friends know her secret shame: that in a moment of maternal despair, she once walked away from her newborn, asleep in her carriage in a park. Disaster was avoided and Essie got better, but she still fears what lurks inside her, even as her daughter gets older and she has a second baby.
When a new woman named Isabelle moves in next door to Essie, she is an immediate object of curiosity in the neighborhood. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? What mysterious job does she have? And why is she so fascinated with Essie? As the two women grow closer and Essie’s friends voice their disapproval, it starts to become clear that Isabelle’s choice of neighborhood was no accident. And that her presence threatens to bring shocking secrets to light.
The Family Next Door is Sally Hepworth at her very best: at once a deeply moving portrait of family drama and a compelling suburban mystery that will keep you hooked until the very last page.
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The Family Next Door is the fourth book I’ve read by author Sally Hepworth. After devouring the first one a couple of years ago, I decided to read all her past books this year so I could be caught up on future releases. I really enjoyed this one, which took only two days to read as I kept getting pulled back in to spend more time reading it before bed each night. I highly recommend the author and think her writing style jives superbly well with my reading style.
The story takes place in Melbourne, Australia. Four families are neighbors. Three of them have known each other for a little while and one is new. Three of the women are married and each have two kids, but the newcomer seems single and might be gay based on a few comments she’s made. It’s intriguing to the other three women but this is really not a major piece of the plot. What is a major puzzle has to do with the birth of a few of the women’s children. Since I don’t want to spoil any surprises, I will say that I was totally shocked when a new chapter began and just dropped the bombshell in the most unexpected of places… and then we spend the remainder of the book trying to determine whom the secret is about. Which of these women has a bigger past than we were led to believe… and truth be told, they all do… it’s just a matter of how BIG one secret is!
It’s rare I get surprised. I might be slightly off on a killer or not realize a few shocking endings… but Hepworth did such an amazing job leading us down a path that I never saw the truth coming. And when it did… it’s a ‘hmm… how on earth did this happen?’ type deal. As the story unwinds, alternating between all the women, we really get to know their relationships with their husbands and families. Some of the women are not so nice. Some of the husbands deserve a good kick in the ass. A few are just trapped and unfortunately impacted in unexpected ways. Through it all, I found myself very curious and excited to get to the big reveals.
A few times, I had a couple of confused moments; some were intentional to mislead us. Others were in the similarities: 3 couples, each with 2 children. While some had boys and some had girls, there were too many overlaps in background that made it slightly hard to keep it 100% clear. That mostly is due to intentional red herrings, so I ultimately am totally okay with it. It took me 5 seconds to stop and recall everything about the character so I could try to solve the puzzle. That’s a good thing too, as it shows how much I invested in everyone in the book.
Looking forward to another Hepworth read… two more left before I’m current, and I really really hope she has a new one out in 2021 as I already read the one that just dropped this summer.
This was a compelling examination of the secrets that lurk in every marriage and family. I figured out the twist before the end but it still kept me turning the pages because I was attached to the characters by then.
I like the way The Family Next Door starts out mellow, builds, and then reaches a crescendo. But after that it ends rather abruptly. The psychological buildup was intense, but the end result was tamer than I’d anticipated for some of the situations. However, the way and time in which secrets were revealed was excellent. Each revelation came at a time I wasn’t expecting it and I was blown away by how the author executed those parts. It was very well done. I would definitely recommend this book.
An exclusive neighborhood, a safe neighborhood, a neighborhood with couples and children. Added to this perfect place came a single woman who didn’t really fit it, but wanted to get to know everyone.
Who could Isabelle be, and why would she move into this neighborhood that she really didn’t fit into?
Each of the five main characters tried to be friends, but each has something to hide or something they aren’t happy about.
I also questioned if the husbands had something to hide as well.
Ange always has to be in control, but we don’t know why.
Essie has problems being a mother.
Fran has a secret she finally reveals to her husband.
Barbara is Essie’s mother and a perfect mother and grandmother.
Isabelle is the questionable one.
Lucas seems to be a lady’s man.
Ben does seem sweet, but withdrawn.
Nigel seems clueless about everything even though he is brilliant.
THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR doesn’t refer to one family but to all the families in the neighborhood. They all seem to have access to each other’s homes and all seem to be involved in each other’s lives, except for the secrets.
At the beginning it seems like a soap opera, but don’t be fooled. It is wonderful and heartwarming.
The ending is a marvelous revelation of a lot of secrets and a lot of love.
ENJOY when you read Ms. Hepworth’s newest gem. 4/5
I received this book free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
“She couldn’t expect every puzzle piece of her life to click together just because she wanted it to. All her life she’d lived with a peice of her puzzle missing, and maybe that was just the way life was.”
I was quickly absorbed into this neighborhood, and anxious to learn each persons secrets.
I was shocked at the twists and turns of this novel and it kept me wondering right up to the last few pages, just how things would end.
Sally Hepworth does an amazing job of making you feel as if you are actually standing in the kitchens of these homes listening , to solve the dilemmas in this book.
This one had great potential to be a gripping story of suspense. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it particularly gripping or suspenseful. There is a bit of mystery, but even with a few red herrings thrown in, it wasn’t hard to figure it out. The whole thing reads a bit like a soap opera or a bad Lifetime movie, except that there are fewer characters here likable enough to root for. I spent a good portion of this book feeling sorry for Essie’s husband, Ben, who seems to be the only person on this street that has any sense. And not to belittle postpartum depression in any way, but I might’ve had more than a hot minute’s worth of sympathy for Essie except that three years later, she has a second child who is apparently the perfect baby – until she’s not and Essie isn’t getting enough sleep, so starts having similar problems as she did the first time. Of course, the rest of the people living on this street aren’t any better. Among the men we have one who can’t keep it in his pants and another who makes a bad financial decision and goes through a rather exaggerated depression, and among the women, we have the one who gets pregnant to keep her husband, the one who’s baby may or may not belong to her husband, the clingy mother/grandmother, and the mysterious single woman who’s in everybody’s business. A couple of these not so likable characters do redeem themselves somewhat toward the end, but it wasn’t enough for me to care much about them. After glancing at the many four and five star reviews for this story, I realize I’m in the minority here, but for me, this was a rather depressing story and the mystery, which could’ve been a redeeming element, was just too easy to figure out.
A solid read with an unexpected twist.
If I have one thing to say about this book, it’s this: Secrets, man, they will catch up to you.
What I liked about “The Family Next Door”:
I was kept guessing – I started to get this idea here and there as I read, but it was like laying out the edges of a jigsaw puzzle without seeing the box. You know it’s the outline due to the shape of the pieces but you have no idea what the full picture is supposed to be. I was practically salivating to know more.
What I didn’t care for:
Cussing – There was none in the first half of the book, but in the second half, it came out of nowhere and was completely jarring and rather off-putting. When a book sets a particular expectation in its first half that it then turns on its head at the midway point, I just have a difficult time accommodating that.
The preoccupation with sex – There wasn’t anything even close to explicit bedroom scenes. Vague references at best, but it was as if every other thought through these characters’ minds related back to sex in some way or another. Characters that were otherwise fascinatingly flawed became somewhat flattened and less multi-dimensional as a result.
A few closing thoughts: There is a real mental adjustment to accommodating the British vernacular for the Australian setting. I wouldn’t say it qualifies as something I didn’t care for, but it was a challenge for me occasionally, when my brain had to shift gears. I would classify this book as more suspense than thriller or mystery. There are a lot of questions and while there are some moments of tension, I never felt truly scared. I mostly just wanted to know the truth of the story and how it would play out. And the ending truly was satisfying, however, the points I made under what I didn’t care for prevented me from rating this any higher than three stars.
Sally Hepworth never disappoints!
My Rating: 4 ’s
Published: March 1st 2018 by Bolinda audio
Recommend: Yes
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This was the first book I had read by Sally Hepworth, but it won’t be my last. She was able to capture and hold my attention with her characters and the intrigue. You never quite knew where things were going, but there were a lot of secrets in the neighborhood, each of which made the story even more interesting. I would definitely recommend this book.
4.5/5
I have decided to rewrite my review for The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth since I inadvertently just did a reread for it and listened to the audiobook. I really enjoyed this one the first time around, and I enjoyed it just as much, and actually even more, this second go-round. Thanks to this, I am raising my rating to a 4.5 from my previous rating of a 4. I think this book deserves more stars than I initially gave it because it really is just so good. It is gripping, mysterious, and I was so into it that I listened to the audiobook as much as I could. The audio is read by Barrie Kreinik and she did a bang-up job voicing this book. I loved her accent, and she did all the different viewpoints really well.
There are so many secrets bouncing around the suburb of Pleasant Court, and I was addicted to finding out what everyone was hiding. I loved the different viewpoints, and I liked almost every character in this book besides a couple of the men. Isabelle is the mysterious new stranger in the neighborhood, and it was so fun seeing the secret of why she is there get revealed along with everyone else’s. Despite having read The Family Next Door before, I didn’t realize what was going to happen until it basically had, and this book managed to shock me all over again. Also, give me a break – I read it 2 years ago! I love doing rereads using the audiobook and I’m not mad that I got to experience this one again. Hepworth is an autobuy for me and I will gladly reread any of her books any day, even when it happens by accident.
Thank you to the publisher for my advance review copy via NetGalley back in 2018! All opinions and thoughts are my own.
The book jacket descriptions and short reviews made me excited to read this book. The story starts out following four characters through pretty much their daily lives with a teaser now and again by an unknown female describing the birth of her child. When was it? That is part of the mystery by design. Essie has a wonderful husband, they live in a great neighborhood, her mother is there to support the work of maintaining a household and raising a newborn and a toddler. Her friends, Ange and Fran, both have children and their share of secret issues. These three are supposedly friends, but none of them share their secrets or their present turmoils. Some friends, in my opinion. Along comes a new single woman moving into the neighborhood. She has a reason for being there, but we aren’t privy to that reason right away. I kept reading through the characters’ drivel, waiting for something significant to happen. I’m glad I did, albeit nothing to write home about but a little intense regardless. I felt like I trudged through these friends’ lives and worries only to realize the biggest drama didn’t even involve these three friends! Surprise! The new neighbor Isabelle seemed just too good to be true, and, well, I can’t reveal that.
This one fell rather flat for me. Having just read Sally Hepworth’s other book The Mother-in-Law and absolutely devouring it in days and truly loved it, The Family Next Door was rather dry.
This story revolves around a neighbourhood called “Pleasant Court” in Australia filled with predominantly married couple with children. Ange and Lucas, Essie and Ben, and then Fran and Nigel — they each have two children of their own. Barbara is a single grandmother who lives next door to Essie, her daughter. The only single woman to be found in this neighbourhood is newcomer Isabelle. She also lives next door to Essie. But there’s something more than meets the eye with her.
While from the outside, anyone would think this is a normal, safe neighbourhood where very little happens except for a scrape here or there when a child falls from their bike. But “Pleasant Court” is filled with secrets and lies that slowly unravel throughout the novel. From infidelity, loss of children, and even kidnapping — this picture perfect neighbourhood gradually unravels some very dark secrets from their not so normal neighbours.
This was another quick read. I listened to it while I was getting ready for work, and even in the gym, desperately trying to figure out when that massive plot twist was going to happen, but it really didn’t. I mean, there is obviously something that Hepworth is leading us to, and we eventually find it, but it is nothing like the previous plot twist I got from her other book. It made me feel rather dumbfounded when it was revealed. I actually said, “Is that it?” I guess I wanted more, something dark and unnerving like her other book.
I also found it difficult to keep up with all the characters. There were so many narrators and their husband’s, children, mothers. It became too much to remember. I had to keep going back or looking up all the characters to keep track of which person was with which family. And don’t even get me started on how far fetched some of the secretive behaviours were. I mean, we’ve all seen Sex and the City, so we know how woman are, but some of these lies and secrets are extremely unbelievable.
That all being said, Hepworth certainly had me wrapped around her finger when it came to her writing, dialogue and even the setting. Her books really make me want to move to Australia. She has a way of keeping you entertained by the writing and characters where you want to know what they’re hiding. But when it is revealed, it’s too far-fetched or not dark enough for me. I’m not as in love with this one as I was with her other book.
If you’ve ever been curious about what goes on in your neighbour’s home, what dark secrets they’re hiding or even the shadows you see from their window at night — this book certainly sheds enough light on those secrets — maybe too unbelievable and not dark enough, but interesting all the least. The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth is a fast-paced mystery that leaves you wondering what’s going on next door with your neighbours. Even if it’s not murder, kinky sex or contraband — you honestly never know people are capable of behind closed doors!
Check out my review here: https://bit.ly/2MlRXhC
Fun summer read.
Unusual story of reuniting with family.
This book started out with a bang but fizzled out. It was difficult to follow the characters and there were too many storylines. It was very unrealistic. I love psychological thrillers, but this one was not one I would recommend in this particular genre
the book was a good easy read. there were times the author had you trying to figure out which character was involved in things happening in the story. author had surprise ending.
Terrific book. Kept me anxious to get to resolution of the intertwined tales, which it did.
It took me a bit to get into this, but I did find I liked it. Ineresting that everyone in the neighborhood has hidden issues. The one character I did not like, Ange, I ended up liking a lot and having quite a bit of respect for when she had respect for herself.
This is much like Big Little Lies as it follows families and discovers their secrets. I enjoyed the book.